Melbourne Storm march into another grand final
Finals football is all about experience and coping with the pressure of the big matches at this time of year. The Cronulla Sharks have played like gummy sharks in the first 30 minutes of the their match against the Melbourne Storm.
The result was that they let the defending champs build up a sizeable lead by the halftime break. The first try came for the storm via a Cooper Cronk kick that setup Steve Turner after just a hand full of minutes. Cronk was again instrumental helping Israel Folau over for the second try to make it 10-0.
In the opening 30 minutes the Sharks were turning the ball over too often to mount any pressure on a Melbourne side that had gone into the match on the back of two tough matches. They escaped with a win last week against Brisbane in the last minute.
Adam Blair of the Melbourne Storm made it a tough ask for the Cronulla team to come back from 16-0 as he scored his first ever try in the NRL when he stretched out to score despite plenty of attention from Sharks defenders.The try came just five minutes before the halftime break.
Down 16-0 at the start of the second half you could have expected the Sharks to throw in the towel. To their credit they looked a lot sharper in the early stages of the second half and had the Storm on the ropes. You could see the effect of the two tough matches they had played in the finals series as the players just managed to get themselves around the field.
To the credit of the Storm players, playing without three star players they defended magnificiently and despite the Sharks throwing the ball around in good attacking football they kept them scoreless.
To make matters worse for the Sharks the Storm managed to run in a few more tries.
The final score was 28-0. Steve Turner picked up his second try of the match after a nice cut back inside to beat the fullback. Matt Geyer also chimed in for a try after a good run by Billy Slater set Geyer up with an easy run to the line.
The loss for the Sharks signalled farewell for Sharks trio Isaac de Gois, Brett Kimmorley and Danny Nutley, who all played their final game for the Sharks.
All credit to the Melbourne Storm who will now play in their third consecutive grand final. Their opponent will be decided tomorrow night as the Manly Sea Eagles take on the New Zealand Warriors for a grand final spot.
Facebook comments:
